PC Magazine : 950 & 950XL Beautiful But Doomed

PC magazine is already out with a hands-on calling both phone doomed . He said while sipping on o rum & coke a rep told him that phones are basically designed for enterprise customers so apparently MS does not care about consumers .

That tells me MS does not have clear vision not that it had any vision before .
First the company took a write off of $7 billion and CEO said they will not promote the phone .
Later in an interview he clarified and said company will have 3 phones , one low budget, one high end , and one for enterprise . Apparently he did not know what he was talking about as high end and enterprise is the same phone .

I was hoping we get something so I could upgrade to but my 1520 is actually better

Too sad this company has never been able to find the right CEO with futuristic vision like Jeff Bezos

I'm curious as to how a 1520 is better. If you don't like the plastic body on the 950, well, you lose that argument with a 1520. Outside of on screen navigation keys, the specs are better in every way on the 950, and in some cases, by a wide margin.

Don't get me wrong - I hope lots of people feel like you right now, because I have a couple of 1520's to sell. But, I'm not seeing it.

Edit: I'm not sure if maybe the guy had one too many rum and cokes (which says a lot, but that's another story), but what exactly does "designed for enterprise" so they don't care about consumers mean? What would be in a consumer phone that is not in an enterprise phone?

THE INTERNALS DIDNT MATCH THE EXTERNAL
TYPICAL MICROSOFT
I ALWAYS WONDER IF APPLE OWNS 50% of msft! If they can make a Xbox one,surface etc how come they can't come out with a stunning eye catching phone!!!!
After 5 years of wp, recently jumped to iPhone band wagon, I'm gonna be the one of those fans that will wait, for now I will probably get my mom a 640 xl!

Judging by the response we're seeing around the place (as in real lack of hype) all I can say about windows mobile is, much too little, much too late. I, unfortunately think that it's DOA.

There's a few features which seem quite cool. If they gain any traction in any way, shape or form, you can guarantee that google and apple will implement those features into their products. Continuum is probably the only one I think that's worth looking into. Apart from that, there's nothing there that's going to drag someone away from their iphone or android phone and migrate to windows mobile.

Unfortunately my foray in windows phone feels that it has been eroded by no one else than microsoft. It was a great platform when it launched. Sure, it had plenty of missing features, but slowly, as they made improvements, they also dropped some of the cool stuff.

Lumia 950 XL is not something you want to buy for many people in enterprise lol. Did anyone watch the presentation? That was awesome. Can't wait for the Lumia 950 XL. Microsoft is now making the best hardware in every class. Directly challenging Apple.Microsoft Windows 10 devices event

You do realize you'll be able swap out the backs to make them look as spiffy as you want right?

IM PAST UR CONCERN, like what I said been a user since birth 2010, I don't hat on it, I just want it to improve. This release didn't wanna make me go back to it. Yeah I get it there's no apps, but you know what THE THERES NO APPS CONVERSATION IS TRUE!!! I used snap chat a lot lately!! Did windowsphone10 brought this up?? Again I don't hate, I didn't have any choice!! They dc my LUMIA 1520!! I have to jump!

I'm curious as to how a 1520 is better. If you don't like the plastic body on the 950, well, you lose that argument with a 1520. Outside of on screen navigation keys, the specs are better in every way on the 950, and in some cases, by a wide margin.

Don't get me wrong - I hope lots of people feel like you right now, because I have a couple of 1520's to sell. But, I'm not seeing it.

Edit: I'm not sure if maybe the guy had one too many rum and cokes (which says a lot, but that's another story), but what exactly does "designed for enterprise" so they don't care about consumers mean? What would be in a consumer phone that is not in an enterprise phone?

Specification points of view, 950 XL can make Note 5 run for its money except for 3 areas.
1) Cheap plastic compared to premium aluminium finish covered by ceramic glass
2) SD 810 instead of 820.
3) No Uni body features. replaceable batteries, Micro SD slots and inserting SIM and Micro SD card by opening back cover are good for mid-end and low end devices, not flagship. Even 930 has much better premium finish than 950 XL.

If MS would have covered these 3 aspects, it would have made every Note 5 owner feel ENVY. The camera is superior in each and every aspect, the UI is smooth. The Screen is superior. The weight is almost the same. But where is the premium touch?

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I like the devices. It is fairly obvious that, with continuum, these are aimed at the business sector. Is that so bad? A unified windows, where all the devices are familiar to Windows users, where you can take your 'PC' in your pocket. No lugging a laptop on your commute. MSFT just need an education in sales pitches!

My one real disappointment was the 550. Pretty much 'here's a cheap phone', and that was it. Why? Rather than yet another device, with yet another number, why didn't they update the 640, 640XL, which seems to have been a major success with those in the know?

Anyway, as for the 'journo', I suppose after too many Rum and Cokes, he posted his 'point of view' on a macbook air. I wonder if he had Coca Cola with his rum, because in his opinion, Pepsi is doomed? I wonder if he has an agenda sponsored by Google / Crapple?? Take it with a pinch of salt as most reviews are subjective, depending on how many free drinks you have had!!

Specification points of view, 950 XL can make Note 5 run for its money except for 3 areas.
1) Cheap plastic compared to premium aluminium finish covered by ceramic glass
2) SD 810 instead of 820.
3) No Uni body features. replaceable batteries, Micro SD slots and inserting SIM and Micro SD card by opening back cover are good for mid-end and low end devices, not flagship. Even 930 has much better premium finish than 950 XL.

If MS would have covered these 3 aspects, it would have made every Note 5 owner feel ENVY. The camera is superior in each and every aspect, the UI is smooth. The Screen is superior. The weight is almost the same. But where is the premium touch?

I can agree with that. If those internals were in a 930 body, wow. Still anxious to see one in person. If it feels like a 640XL, then it's in trouble. It looks like it should be better than that though.

What the author of the original article, and his Microsoft source, probably mean is that: Microsoft realizes that broad consumer take up of Windows phones is moot at this point (it peaked at 5%, drifted lower, and seems stuck at 2.5-3% global share) so they've re-positioned their smartphones as something that they can sell as one part of a complete package to IT enterprise buyers, hence the focus on Continuum and being 'productive like a boss'.

That last line isn't something you throw out there, when you're trying to appeal to the Instagram/Periscope/Uber/Snapchat generation.

Particularly since T-Mobile seems to be indicating they won't carry Lumia phones going forward. No indication whether they will carry Windows 10 hardware from other OEMs. If not, staying with them will mean bringing your own phone or going with Android or iOS.

What the author of the original article, and his Microsoft source, probably mean is that: Microsoft realizes that broad consumer take up of Windows phones is moot at this point (it peaked at 5%, drifted lower, and seems stuck at 2.5-3% global share) so they've re-positioned their smartphones as something that they can sell as one part of a complete package to IT enterprise buyers, hence the focus on Continuum and being 'productive like a boss'.

That last line isn't something you throw out there, when you're trying to appeal to the Instagram/Periscope/Uber/Snapchat generation.

Hey, at least it's a niche of some sort (shrug).

I think you are spot on. IMHO the new Win 10 mobile ( NOT windows phones ) devices are a curve ball for Apple. They have their Macs, but are they really integrated?? Don't get me wrong, when I was DJing, macs won hands down on reliability, but the minute they went wrong, you pretty much had to throw them out, particularly the iMac G series. They are expensive to buy, and expensive to run!!

I ported android to a netbook once. Never again!! Doesn't work! Google would have a hell of a job to offer Integration on their platform!

Which brings us back to MSFT. I think, and hope, that the integration of Win 10 into surface, mobile device, PC etc will pay dividends. I appreciate the views of those who have a downer on things, BUT, with only 3% of the consumer market on mobile, the enterprise sector is being targeted. MSFT is a business. It's OS has worldwide recognition. It's brand is known worldwide, they gave win 10 away ensuring that whatever win 10 device you use, it will all be familiar. In the enterprise sector, if the whole company is singing from the same hymn sheet, productivity increases.

In my little taxi firm, our drivers have windows phones, with the start screen all setup the same. They have individual folders in one drive for jobs etc. The simplicity of it means they aren't parked up on the phone all the time, phone numbers and addresses don't end up being misinterpreted. Yes, I know other devices could probably do the same, but for price of an iPhone I got several 640's!!! So integration in a business setting works for me!

In the US, without Verizon support, the 950/XL, or any other WP cellular device, will be DOA. It doesn't matter what Microsoft's enterprise or consumer intentions are - not having them available on Vzw assures their failure.

Particularly in the enterprise. We operate under contracts and can't turn those on a dime to switch carriers.

No Verizon support will be fatal. You can argue GSM/world phone all you want, but I'm not sure these devices can thrive, let alone survive, without a major portion of the US market. That's the nut that needed to be cracked, and if it doesn't happen, well, what we have now with WP is what it will be in a year - still stuck at 2.5%.

I'm curious as to how a 1520 is better. If you don't like the plastic body on the 950, well, you lose that argument with a 1520. Outside of on screen navigation keys, the specs are better in every way on the 950, and in some cases, by a wide margin.

Don't get me wrong - I hope lots of people feel like you right now, because I have a couple of 1520's to sell. But, I'm not seeing it.

Edit: I'm not sure if maybe the guy had one too many rum and cokes (which says a lot, but that's another story), but what exactly does "designed for enterprise" so they don't care about consumers mean? What would be in a consumer phone that is not in an enterprise phone?

Hey, I might be interested in those 1520s. I tried to PM you, but it doesn't look like it went through. All my messages seem to have to be approved. Never had that problem with any other site. Anyways, if you can, please PM me.